Hydra
The Hydra is a large, multi-headed female monster appearing in Disney's 1997 feature film, Hercules. In the film, Hades summons The Hydra to destroy Hercules, though Hercules manages to defeat it, earning him fame and adoration from the people of Thebes. The Hydra starts out with only one head, but any time one of its heads is removed, three more replace it. Physical Design The Hydra is a massive, reptilian creature with dark purple skin. Its body is rather bulky and it crawls using two four-fingered hands with white claws. It has a long, thin tail and each time one of its heads are cut off, two more grow to replace it. Its number of heads can apparently grow exponentially in Hercules, though in Kingdom Hearts II its maximum is seven. All of the Hydra’s head are identical to each other, each sporting the same long, serpentine neck, large mouth filled with white fangs, orange eyes with slit pupils, and spikes lining the top of their heads down the length of their necks. When one of the Hydra's heads is cut off, it spews green blood. In the International releases, however, this is desensitized to be purple smoke instead, though it remains green blood for the initial cutscene. The Hydra's name references the Lernaean Hydra, a serpent-like water monster of Greek mythology. It originally had nine heads that would replace each other in the same manner as the Hydra in Hercules, and was killed by Hercules as part of his Twelve Labours. Appearances ''Hercules The Hydra is the first obstacle sent by Hades to kill Hercules. It is trapped under a boulder until Hercules unknowingly releases her in rescuing two boys from under the same boulder who turn out to be none other than Pain and Panic (Hades' henchmen) in disguise. The two thank Hercules before running off to Hades and leaving the hero to feel a false sense of accomplishment, oblivious to what consequences would come of his actions. The Hydra surprises Hercules by approaching him from the back, forcing the hero into combat before swallowing him. While in the monster's throat, Hercules decapitates her with his sword from the inside-out. The hero is again lured into a false sense of security before, as Hades expects to happen, the Hydra sprouts three more heads. It wreaks havoc and causes the spectators in the stands to scatter as Hercules fruitlessly tries fighting back. With each head he chops off, three more grow. It is not until he is pressed against a rocky cliff that Hercules sees any chance of victory. He punches the cliff and creates a rockslide, finally killing the Hydra and putting him in a new light before the people of Thebes, who quickly start him on his road to fame and fortune (Zero to Hero). Kingdom Hearts II'' The Hydra is a boss at Olympus Coliseum. Sora must battle with the help of Megara, Phil and Pegasus to defeat it. Hades sent the Hydra to destroy the Olympus Coliseum and kill Hercules. Hercules had to fight it in the Coliseum and believed he had knock it out. However, it was in fact playing dead and started to destroy the Coliseum. Sora then fought it with his friends and beheaded it until it could no longer grow heads. However, the aftermath of the battle was rather unfavorable—the Coliseum was destroyed and Hercules lost his hero's glow, making him later fall prey to the plans of Hades. The reason Sora didn't have the same trouble Herc did in the film may have to do with him slicing off its heads with a Keyblade instead of a simple sword. A Keyblade has mystic powers beyond one world and it would make some bit of sense. Gallery Category:Villains Category:Monsters Category:Hercules characters Category:Kingdom Hearts characters Category:Dragons Category:Characters in video games Category:Deceased characters Category:Greek Mythology Category:Females Category:Greek Characters Category:Reptiles Category:Legendary creatures